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Writing profiles for DLNA devices...

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I have tried to create a Sony XBR X850B profile, using a Sony 2013 profile as a starting point. I'll say up front that's probably not such a great idea, but being unfamiliar with how all the parts of a profile interact, I hoped to get usable results. What I got, was a mix. Now my list of movies has the images intact, which is much appreciated! But when I select any movie, i get video and sound, but the two aren't even within minutes of where they should be - and both make great leaps through the movie.

In general, the generic profile works with this lovely TV, but there are several formats that won't play (notably mkv) and they don't get transcoded (or not properly). Instead, I get "Content not supported" displayed on the otherwise-blank screen. And things like subtitles don't work, etc. etc. (I've had a hard time finding other posts by people who have tried this sort of thing.)

I'm not sure where to look into what might be the issue with the transcoding - this is all mysterious to me so far.

But to me, at present, it's like trying to drink from a firehose. . . there is just too much information and (for me) too little understanding of how it fits together.

So I have come here to plea for help. I would appreciate any pointers, and I will be happy to post bits of logs/configurations if given some idea of what to provide. I have attached the complete Plex DLNA Server.log and Plex Media Server.log

I have tried to create a Sony XBR X850B profile, using a Sony 2013 profile as a starting point. I'll say up front that's probably not such a great idea, but being unfamiliar with how all the parts of a profile interact, I hoped to get usable results. What I got, was a mix. Now my list of movies has the images intact, which is much appreciated! But when I select any movie, i get video and sound, but the two aren't even within minutes of where they should be - and both make great leaps through the movie.

In general, the generic profile works with this lovely TV, but there are several formats that won't play (notably mkv) and they don't get transcoded (or not properly). Instead, I get "Content not supported" displayed on the otherwise-blank screen. And things like subtitles don't work, etc. etc. (I've had a hard time finding other posts by people who have tried this sort of thing.)

I'm not sure where to look into what might be the issue with the transcoding - this is all mysterious to me so far.

But to me, at present, it's like trying to drink from a firehose. . . there is just too much information and (for me) too little understanding of how it fits together.

So I have come here to plea for help. I would appreciate any pointers, and I will be happy to post bits of logs/configurations if given some idea of what to provide. I have attached the complete Plex DLNA Server.log and Plex Media Server.log

Thanks,

Dennis

For audio sync you try adding the audiosync setting to your transcode targets by replacing:

I think I have the Bravia XBR-55X850B working to my satisfaction now (except that the next challenge is to play my eclectic music collection randomly). It was solved with the AudioSyncFlags line, as you suggested.

I apologize that I had a few typos in my prior post; obviously that was not the file I had working. For any who need it... here is my working profile. After I've used it for a couple of weeks without problems (assuming ) I'll post it to the appropriate board section.

So, it is a mix of great and mediocre now. Many of the files I have now play with original resolution, no transcoding. But it seems that anytime transcoding takes place, it's mapped to AVC, 300X240. When I take my custom Profile out of the way so that generic is used, and play the same file, it is MP4 720X576. Any idea what might cause that to happen? Profile is as attached in prior post.

So, it is a mix of great and mediocre now. Many of the files I have now play with original resolution, no transcoding. But it seems that anytime transcoding takes place, it's mapped to AVC, 300X240. When I take my custom Profile out of the way so that generic is used, and play the same file, it is MP4 720X576. Any idea what might cause that to happen? Profile is as attached in prior post.

Previously some Sony users had reported having problems with mpegts/h264 streams showing poor quality. The solution for some was to switch the transcode targets to (I modified your transcode target so you can try pasting it in if you want):

Unfortunately, it would then show "No files available" (or similar wording) for each of my movie file sections, including Movies, Music Videos, and Home Movies. I restored to prior values, and it worked (such as it is) again.

Unfortunately, it would then show "No files available" (or similar wording) for each of my movie file sections, including Movies, Music Videos, and Home Movies. I restored to prior values, and it worked (such as it is) again.

Regards,
Dennis

Sorry, that was my fault I didn't check the directplay section where asf isn't listed as supporting those codecs. And I honestly don't know if the audioCodec's would support surround sound. Looking at the Xbox 360 profile it should, but I don't know how the quality would be for that (Or how/if it would work here)

There is no need for apologies! I appreciate you working in the blind to help me out! Thanks so much for your help - you nailed it! I used the asf container. Everything that plays, plays with good resolution.

However, external subtitles do not work, and I am unable to play files that I've converted to MKV from DVD using MakeMKV 1.8.13. The XML for one file is attached. In short, it has an MKV container, with video codec mpeg2video and audio codec ac3. I got the message "Video file cannot be played." I noticed that there was no listing for mpeg2video in the MKV container for my Profile, so I added it:

Result was that when I played the file, I got a black screen and the TV seemed to lock up. Only recourse was to unplug the power.

As for the subtitles, Plex does not seem interested in "burning them in," and the TV Subtitle button results in "Subtitles not available," even though they are. I tried MKV with subs in the container, and plain external .SRT filles.

At the risk of wearing out my welcome, do you have other suggestions?

Also, in the spirit of this "Writing profiles for DLNA Devices" thread. . . where might I go to learn how to reconcile the codec terms used in the manual with the terms used by Plex? What I mean is, few of the codec names referenced in the manual are the same as the names used in the Profile XML. How do I learn how to reconcile that? And what might be wrong with the subtitles?

If they are SRT's you need to make sure that they are named exactly like your movie file with the addition of a language code:

Frozen (2013).mkv

Frozen (2013).en.srt

After that you have to select the subtitle from the web manager to 'enable' it for use. You can additionally set a default srt language from the server settings, but it will only work if you have the language codes enabled.

There is no need for apologies! I appreciate you working in the blind to help me out! Thanks so much for your help - you nailed it! I used the asf container. Everything that plays, plays with good resolution.

In short, it has an MKV container, with video codec mpeg2video and audio codec ac3. I got the message "Video file cannot be played." I noticed that there was no listing for mpeg2video in the MKV container for my Profile, so I added it:

Result was that when I played the file, I got a black screen and the TV seemed to lock up. Only recourse was to unplug the power.

This is normally a result of the file format not being compatible with your TV. Now, normally if that is the case you should get the video file cannot be played message. Since you didn't get that message I would guess that your TV does support the formats, but there is a particular extra part it doesn't like. Looking at the XML though I am unable to see anything that sticks out.

As for the subtitles, Plex does not seem interested in "burning them in," and the TV Subtitle button results in "Subtitles not available," even though they are. I tried MKV with subs in the container, and plain external .SRT filles.

The subtitle button on the remote will only work if the file is directly played and the subtitles are external. Hopefully, the other tips might help with how it burns the subtitles into the stream for you.

Also, in the spirit of this "Writing profiles for DLNA Devices" thread. . . where might I go to learn how to reconcile the codec terms used in the manual with the terms used by Plex? What I mean is, few of the codec names referenced in the manual are the same as the names used in the Profile XML. How do I learn how to reconcile that? And what might be wrong with the subtitles?

In the first post there are a few codecs listed that are commonly seen. There is no other full list. Normally if you have a codec that you're not sure of, you can add the file to a library and view the XML like you posted and it will have exactly what plex is seeing the codec name as. For the most part they follow common names, the only one that typically throws people off is DCA for DTS.

If they are SRT's you need to make sure that they are named exactly like your movie file with the addition of a language code:

Frozen (2013).mkv

Frozen (2013).en.srt

After that you have to select the subtitle from the web manager to 'enable' it for use. You can additionally set a default srt language from the server settings, but it will only work if you have the language codes enabled.

This is normally a result of the file format not being compatible with your TV. Now, normally if that is the case you should get the video file cannot be played message. Since you didn't get that message I would guess that your TV does support the formats, but there is a particular extra part it doesn't like. Looking at the XML though I am unable to see anything that sticks out.

The subtitle button on the remote will only work if the file is directly played and the subtitles are external. Hopefully, the other tips might help with how it burns the subtitles into the stream for you.

They are mostly SRT, but as I (meant to?) say, there are some embedded into .MKV. Where they are .SRT, they are the exact same as the movie, a la:

(I did try .eng instead of .ENG - with a full force refresh. . . but still no joy.)

I guess what I cannot wrap my head around, is why this would come into the picture: "This is normally a result of the file format not being compatible with your TV. Now, normally if that is the case you should get the video file cannot be played message."

What would I be missing that is preventing PLEX from transcoding the file to a format that *IS* compatible? I'm not certain that I see any transcoding at all.... but I am certain I should not run into issues of no-playable-content-shown in the directories, et cetera... and all the other issues that come from files not being compatible. Isn't that, in the end, the primary goal of these Profiles? So what trigger am I missing?

What would I be missing that is preventing PLEX from transcoding the file to a format that *IS* compatible? I'm not certain that I see any transcoding at all.... but I am certain I should not run into issues of no-playable-content-shown in the directories, et cetera... and all the other issues that come from files not being compatible. Isn't that, in the end, the primary goal of these Profiles? So what trigger am I missing?

Sorry about the delay, I thought I submitted a reply to this, but must have closed off the window instead.

The profile's goal is definitely to transcode non-playable content to a playable format. What could cause that could be a number of things. On my LG it happened to be AC3 audio in a MP4 container (That was what I narrowed it down to, after that I remuxed to MKV and had no problem, could have been something else but I never checked)

On my PS3 I've had problems with videos with a bitDepth of 10 (Mostly Anime's are encoded like this), I also saw extra stuttering with Anamorphic and high refFrames. Unfortunately, it could be almost anything. Since the profile is for a newer Sony product, you could try looking at the other Bravia profiles/PS3 profile to try and see if there are any other "UpperBound","NotMatch", or "Match" sections in there as those will be what controls the limitations. The reason why always just transcoding doesn't fix it right away is that when transcoding Plex will try and keep the stream as close to the original as possible unless you tell it what the limitations are.

I am unable to find what to write in the profile, in order to make a (youtube) stream header to contain "transferMode.dlna.org: Streaming;" and not Interactive.

I found out, that I probably need this, since I had a default profile for the device, there was Streaming and video played on the tv, but when I wasnted to personnalise it more, there suddenly was Interactive, and the video file format was not supported. So what do I do, to have the Streaming there?

The XML file is in C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Profiles

Isn't this correct?

No that is only for Plex System profiles.

On windows user profiles go here:

%localappdata%\Plex Media Server\Profiles

also known as:

C:\Users\<User name>\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server\Profiles

You will need to create the profiles directory as if you haven't put any profiles there before the directory does not exist. So goto %localappdata%\Plex Media Server\ create a profiles directory and place it there.

You will need to create the profiles directory as if you haven't put any profiles there before the directory does not exist. So goto %localappdata%\Plex Media Server\ create a profiles directory and place it there.

Now I have done that, but still the profile isn't read...

EDIT: It is being read after all. ,

However, the content is not read. What I want is to have the server transcode the content my TV is unable to read. This is MP4 and TTS files.

However, the content is not read. What I want is to have the server transcode the content my TV is unable to read. This is MP4 and TTS files.

MP4's are listed in your directplay section so they should be directplaying unless they hit one of your limitations in the codec profiles section. For TTS are you referring to mpegts?

Without checking a new DLNA log, can't say for sure what is happening. But on all your old log all of your files appeared to be "mpegts/h264/aac/" which is also listed in your directplay section which means the server won't be trying to transcode them as the profile says your TV can you play them.

Without checking a new DLNA log, can't say for sure what is happening. But on all your old log all of your files appeared to be "mpegts/h264/aac/" which is also listed in your directplay section which means the server won't be trying to transcode them as the profile says your TV can you play them.

So if I remove the line with mpegts from the directplay section, this could be the solution?

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When logs (server or client app) are requested for an investigation, please do NOT turn on "verbose" logging unless it is explicitly requested. Verbose logging makes things much more difficult in the majority of cases.